My husband, who has always said he is "not a reader" has also read this book countless times. I promise every time you read it, you will notice something else, or remember a situation that fits into the authors examples. Read it, then sit with it in your mind. Then read it again.
No, I get no 'kick-back' for you reading it...but if you know me, then you already know I am a bit of a 'book-pusher' :) If I read something that moves me, I want you to be moved too. I can't help it. Know now that there will be more posts about amazing books on this blog. {You have been warned}
The other day, as I attempted to hustle through Walmart to grab groceries while my youngest daughter was at a retreat for the afternoon, I was reminded of this book. I'm actually reminded of this book a lot. I want you to read it. I want you to remember it too.
It was Saturday, it was the afternoon, and it was the day before all the news channels predicted we were getting snow. Does that give you a picture of what the grocery area of Walmart looked like? People galore, carts all over, and people riding those carts that beep when they back up {sometimes I wonder if the beeping is just a courtesy to let you know you are about to be involved in an accident...}. It was really not the way I like to go shopping, but it needed to get done, so there I was.
As I looked around, people looked kind of aggravated~not everyone, but a decent amount. It reminded me that I had a decision to make. This was either going to be the worst grocery shopping day of my life, or I was going to focus on something else. I decided that I would just smile at people who caught my eye, and see how they reacted. I wasn't going to get done any faster if I was ticked off, so I just smiled, and went along my way, expecting for it to take awhile.
What I noticed was people smiled back, even if their expression was of total disgust when I first caught their eye. Remember, we were all like sardines, carts banging into each other....but making the decision to smile turned out to be helpful. People seemed to get nicer. They let me get by. And something else I noticed? Birds. Above all the kids crying, people muttering under their breath, and general chaos, I could hear birds chirping {birds are a whole other topic for me....God knows that is another post~a former phobia of mine~but in this instance they were all good}. So I focused my attention on hearing the birds chirping, flying around Walmart, and smiling {I don't meditate for nothing you know...it helps}.
When I got to the deli counter, I went to grab a number from the ticket~thing, but a woman pulled up in a cart, and beat me to it. If I would've been sucked into the bad energy of everyone being ticked, I may have gotten aggravated, but I wasn't. I smiled. And the sweet woman, who reached up to take a ticket from her ride-on cart noticed me, and handed me her ticket. I tried to say no, that I would take the next one, and she said, "Hey, don't worry about it, at least while I'm waiting I get to sit down, you have to stand!". We both laughed, and I didn't fight her on it anymore.
It seems that she had a decision to make too. I didn't know the woman, but clearly she had a medical reason to be on that cart, and she decided not to be angry about it. I would dare to say she has to make a conscious decision each day, since she is dealing with something physically uncomfortable. She chose to laugh instead of run me over. I appreciated it. And it made me smile more.
Because this is water. It's all water. {You will get it too...just read the book}
Get the book from the library, or wherever. Read it. {It has a few swear words in it, but just get over it and read the beautiful speech that reminds me everyday to make a positive choice}. It will literally take you 15-20 minutes. And don't let me fool you~I don't walk around sprinkling holy water on people. I get annoyed sometimes too. But the book will remind you to take an everyday situation like grocery shopping or traffic, and make it an opportunity to practice empathy and compassion~it's a choice.
Have a great day, and do what my Nana always said to do {no, not to drink another highball~well, okay, but only if it's after 5pm}...smile, she always said to smile.
{Jenn}
No comments:
Post a Comment